Keeping it legal!

News article

6th March 2020

Becky Smith and Tom McCarthy from top 50 international law firm DAC Beachcroft LLP joined us in National Careers Week to talk to students who are interested in a career in the legal sector. Becky is a Partner at the firm and Tom (a former St Brendan’s student) is a Junior Solicitor.

In a fascinating presentation, they spoke to students about why the law exists, and the range of careers in the sector. They discussed the different routes that are now available to becoming a solicitor and the pros and cons of each: university verses apprenticeship, law degree verses non-law degree, etc.

Tom and Becky shared the different paths that they have taken to get to their current positions as well as some of the more ‘colourful cases’ that they have been involved in – including multi-million pound fraud investigations! A court case that Tom was recently involved with (and won) made headline news on the BBC website - which he said gave him something to boast about to his mates!

The pair finished the talk with an insight into how they think the work of solicitors and law firms will change in the future – reassuring students that although technology will take over some aspects, that in their opinion the legal expertise of human lawyers is here to stay for a long time to come!

Questions from the floor included ‘How easy is it to move from criminal to civil law?’ and ‘How much does a solicitor earn?’.